The Essence of Terror
by calcgirl
Summary: Before Voldemort, another man attacked Lily and James on Halloween. A man who knows that death is not the worst thing a person can experience. MWPP era. Rated for disturbing images and some sexuality. Now finished.
1. The Visitor

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns the characters and things you recognize.

* * *

"Terror and horror are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them . . . where lies the great difference between terror and horror, but in the uncertainty and obscurity, that accompany the first, respecting the dreaded evil?" – Ann Radcliffe

* * *

"Wake up, little girl." At first, Lily Evans could not ascertain whether the voice was in her dream or not. As the whisper persisted, and the person began to shake her gently, she slowly opened her eyes, and gasped at the stranger standing above her. 

The man was fairly tall, about 6'1" (1.85 m), in his late twenties or early thirties, with short auburn hair, sticking out everywhere, not in the haphazard way in which James Potter's hair grew, but in the untamed way in which Albert Einstein's pictures depict him. His eyes seemed black in the dim light of his wand, and a speck of yellow resided in each pupil. His face was hollow and pale, as if it had seen little sun in the past several years. His brows were thick and untamed, completing the picture of horror the man evoked in Lily's senses.

Instinctively, Lily reached for her wand on her nightstand, but met merely with air, accompanied by the malevolent laughter of the man. "You won't be getting this back," he said, pulling Lily's wand out of the pocket of his robes, "but, if you do what I say, everything will work out fine." His tone indicated that everything would _not_ be fine, of course.

Finding her voice, Lily spoke out, "Why should I do what you say?"

"I have . . . certain leverage that may persuade you to obey me. Not only do I have your Head Boy, but I also have access to your other friends over in the Seventh Year Gryffindor dormitory." Lily could tell that this man was not in his right mind, and endeavoured to believe him.

"What do you want with me and my friends?"

"Oh, so Potter is your friend now? I don't really want much with your friends, just with you. The only way to get you, though, is to rely on your Gryffindor _bravery_." His voice dripped with sarcasm on the last word, implying that bravery was synonymous with stupidity. "Now, I want you to get up and go into the lovely bathroom that you and your dear Head Boy share."

Legs shaking, Lily climbed out of bed and stumbled towards the door leading to the luxurious bathroom she and James got to share, one of the many perks of being a Head Student. She fumbled with the doorknob before managing to turn it and pull the door open. She stepped inside, the man following right behind her, and gasped at what she saw. James Potter was standing there in pajama pants, bound by thick, silver ropes around his ankles and torso, pinning his arms to his sides. He tried to speak when he saw Lily, but he could not. It became apparent that the man had placed a Silencing Charm on him.

"Do you two meet in here often?" the man asked, suggestively. James stared at the man with a look of utter disgust as he forced Lily further into the large bathroom.

She turned around and glared at him, "I can walk on my own," she snarled.

The man pointed her wand at James. "Now, you may want to think about what you say and do. Any spell I cast with this wand will appear as if you are responsible. Do you want to go to Azkaban? Further, do you want his torment, or even death, on your shoulders because you insisted on being insubordinate?" Lily shook her head. "Good. If you try to do anything besides what I say, not only does Potter get punished, but your girlfriends will suffer as well. Understood?" Lily nodded this time.

"Excellent." He grinned devilishly, "Now, fill the bathtub with water. Just plain water. No bubbles. No perfumes. Just water."

While not the pool-sized bathtub that was in the Prefects bathroom, this tub was to be preferred. It was large, perfect for soaking, and had jets that could be turned on if needed. Lily approached the bathtub and turned the first knob, filling it with water of the perfect temperature for bathing. She chanced a glance over at James and noted the same confusion on his face as she felt. Her gaze returned to the quickly filling bathtub, and as she watched the water stream out of the sides, her mind wandered to one of the many arguments she had had with James . . .

_"You can't just assume that you can take a bath whenever you want. We have to share this bathroom, Potter. You know that word? Share? Most of us learned it in primary school."_

_"But Evans, I have to take a bath after Quidditch practice every night. Otherwise, my muscles won't recuperate like they should, and where would the team be then? Do you want to be responsible for the incapability of the Gryffindor team's star Chaser? I don't think you do."_

_"I'm not telling you not to take a bath. I'm telling you not to take so bloody long. I need to brush my teeth . . ."_

"I think that is full enough for our purposes." Lily fretted over what "our purposes" were, but she hid her feelings as best she could. She would not have to wait long to discover the answer to her worries, though, for the man continued, "Now, I want you to get undressed."

Lily, whose gaze had once more turned to look at the stationary form of James Potter, snapped back to the man. Seeing the defiant look that crossed her countenance, the man twirled her wand a couple of times before shooting a curse at James, causing a small incision in his chest. "I mean it, girl!"

Nodding, Lily began to unfasten her nightgown. Movement in the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head back to James. He looked furious and was shaking his head at her vehemently. She looked back at him as if to say, "What can I do?"

She had shed her nightgown and was standing next to the bathtub in her undergarments. "Finish undressing," the man ordered. James indignation grew, and he struggled against his bindings. The man looked at him, "I thought you would enjoy this. Isn't this every boy's fantasy?" James gagged soundlessly. "Apparently not."

The man then turned back to Lily. "What are you waiting for? Or do we need another lesson?" he asked, brandishing her wand once more. Shaking, and with fierce indignation, Lily removed the rest of her clothing.

The man leered at the young woman, who was slender, but not overly skinny. James kept his gaze at eye level and above, respecting her dignity, what little was left.

"You are very beautiful," the man said after scrutinizing her. "It's too bad what we have to do with you."

At this, James glared at the man with even more vehemence than before and began to struggle against the silver ropes once more. The man turned to the young man, saying, "I told you when I brought you in here that you were not to struggle, and I would give your little girlfriend a quick death. Do you need a lesson in obedience, too?" He now revealed James' wand, pulling it from the pocket of his robes, where he had put it when he stole into James' dormitory shortly before entering Lily's.

"I can use this on the lovely lady, and no one will be any the wiser as to the real castor of any spell. You certainly have reason to use it on her. Jealousy. Revenge for all the time you spent chasing her. Indignation for yelling at you and embarrassing you all those years. The list goes on and on. If you want her to have more pain than necessary, by all mean, continue struggling."

_As the man turned his attention back to Lily, James thought back to the mere twenty minutes prior, though it felt like a lifetime, when the man had sneaked into his room and bound him in his sleep. James had awoken, finding himself restrained by strong silver ropes and unable to speak. He had tried to cry out when the man first leaned over him, for he recognized him from the walls of his dad's office. Mr. Potter was an Auror and was entrusted with the capture of the most malicious criminals. The man tormenting Hogwart's Head Students was none other than the Count Dioscuri Morano, the most wanted of all criminals. The man had whispered to him that he had a "surprise" for him, and that he would greatly enjoy it, but he must not misbehave. James had tried to cry out once more, knowing that there was some plan to attack his friends or Lily, wanting to warn someone, anyone. . . . _

James snapped back to the present as Count Morano addressed him once more, "You aren't watching the show I made specially for you. Look at this girl standing here." James shook his head stubbornly. He pointed James' wand at Lily once more. "Now!"

James looked into Lily's eyes and saw the tears of humiliation she was trying, with minimal success, to suppress. He was debating whether he should hurt her dignity or risk her receiving physical harm, when Count Morano pressed James' wand to her throat, yelling, "I said now, you son of a b----!" Apologetically, James maintained Lily's gaze for another brief moment before lowering to the rest of her body.

"Do you like what you see?" For the first time, James was thankful to the Count, for his words allowed him to look away from Lily in her humiliated and vulnerable state. His relief was short-lived, however, for Count Morano repeated his question with more vehemence, stabbing James' wand further into Lily's throat. Slowly, James nodded his agreement. "I thought so," the Count sneered, slowly withdrawing the wand.

"Walk over to Potter," the Count ordered Lily, and she slowly did as he said. "Good, now reach into his left pocket, the one by your right hand. I left a surprise for you, something from Potter's bedside table."

With trembling hands, Lily reached into the pocket of his pajama pants and withdrew a silver pocketknife. She remembered when he first got it. . . .

_It was Christmas of their sixth year. He and all of his friends had received pocketknives from Sirius' Uncle Alphard. They claimed they could cut through almost anything, magical or otherwise. James had bragged endlessly about his new knife and what he could do with it. He could break into the Slytherin Common Room if he wanted to. He could torment Snape as much as he wanted. He never succeeded in either of these things, of course, because Lily herself had interfered. Around mid-January, James had cornered Snape, trapping him against the wall, and was threatening to break into his dorm room and find out secrets that could embarrass him beyond all reason. Lily happened to walk by at this time and admonished James, taking points away from Gryffindor, angering both James and Snape, who despised being saved by the "Mudblood" once more._

She had been staring at the knife for nearly a minute. James, who had figured out what Morano was probably trying to do, began struggling anew. Lily, whose fear was clouding his sense of thought, merely turned slowly to the Count and asked, "What is this all about?"

"All in good time, my dear. Now, take that knife with you and get into the bathtub." At that, Lily's rationality returned, allowing her mind to create numerous scenarios of what this deranged man may be wanting her to do.

"What if I refuse?" Lily asked, stubbornly setting her chin.

"Then Potter goes. Then Alice. Then Serena. Then your father. Shall I continue?"

Defeated once more, Lily shook her head.

"Bathtub. Now." Lily walked once more to the bathtub, heart pounding, climbed in, and sat in the still-hot water. Morano chuckled monotonously. "Now, slit your wrists."


	2. Gryffindor Bravery

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize.

A/N: Thanks to all of my reviewers. Please let me know if you like it or not and why. I can take criticism; I'm a college student with a big ego.

* * *

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer." – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002 film version)

* * *

James' worst fears were confirmed. Ever since Count Morano had returned to the bathroom with Lily, he knew that the evil man was going to do something to her in order to get to him. The man had been trying to get to the Potter family for years, but he had never been successful, until now.

His face red with rage, James began struggling against his bindings with reckless abandon.

"Now, now," the Count said, "we all have choices to make in life. You can continue to struggle like that, and not only lover-girl will die, but the _Marauders_ as well." James' face went from red to white instantly. The nickname James and his friends had given themselves was not common knowledge. It had been a few mere hours since he had finally let Lily in on that knowledge. . . .

_"Remus is a werewolf, isn't he?" James tried to ignore what Lily had just asked, attempting to change the subject to Quidditch, Charms, McGonnagal, anything but Remus. "I guess I don't even need to ask. It all makes sense. His absences, his boggart, anyone paying attention could figure it out easily." At the look of panic on his face, Lily had smiled softly. "Don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone. It's his secret, not mine." James' countenance relaxed considerably at this, until Lily added, "Though you and your friends might try to be a little more careful about using his nickname around other people. With a name like Moony, people might figure it out more quickly."_

_James' face reddened a little at this. He knew they were reckless at times. Nobody was supposed to know about those nicknames. "So, what's your nickname?" she asked._

_Knowing he could trust her, he told her, "Prongs."_

_She repeated the name, adding, "It suits you."_

_He grinned, "Thanks." Then he told her the story the boys had concocted to tell people if they ever were able to find out about their nicknames, how they had given Remus his nickname because of his condition and then decided they should all have animal-like nicknames, so Remus would not stick out._

_"That's nice of you guys. I'm glad you all have such great friends."_

_"Yeah, they are all great. I'd die for them without even giving it a second thought."_

_Lily's eyes shimmered with emotion, "Yeah, I know what you mean." She paused. "You wanted to talk to me about something, you know, before I confronted you?"_

_Lost in thought, James nodded and took a deep breath. "Lily, I still like you a lot. Would you go to Hogmeade with me sometime?"_

_Lily sighed, "I don't know, James. It's only recently that we've been able to have real conversations, you know, ones that don't involve yelling and throwing curses. I – I need to think about it, okay?"_

_James nodded, "Okay. Well, I guess I'm going to turn in. Goodnight."_

_"Goodnight."_

_He had lain awake for a while after that, thinking. The next day would be Halloween. He had always liked Halloween; significant events in his life always happened on that day. . ._ .

James looked at the clock hanging in the bathroom. 1:13. So, it was Halloween already. Another significant event in his life.

"How do you know about the Marauders?" James whispered, for the Silencing Charm had begun to wear off.

"Silencio!" Count Morano cried, renewing the spell on James. "I know a lot more than you think I do. I know all about your _relationship _with your Head Girl here, I know all about your family, your friends, your strengths, your weaknesses . . ." he paused, "your fears."

James stared at the man, eyes wide with fear. The man had obviously done his research. "Now that I have your attention, let us return to this lovely young lady holding your knife."

Amazingly, James had briefly forgotten she was there, but as he turned and saw her sitting there in the bathtub, tears of fear and frustration flooding down her face, helplessness and fear consumed him immensely.

"I believe I told you to cut your wrists, _Lily_." Morano sneered.

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I kill Potter with your wand, then your friends. Everyone knows how much you hate Potter and that you have a horridly short temper, so no one would question that you had finally cracked and killed him and then, in desperation, killed your friends, too. Then, of course, I would have to slit your wrists for you, so it looks like the guilt of attacking Potter and your friends induced you to commit suicide."

Lily shuddered and slowly brought the blade of the knife to her wrist, shoulders wracking with sobs. "Don't hurt anyone else, okay? I – I'll do it." And without looking at James, she gently slid the blade of the knife against her left wrist.

The Count laughed coldly at the girl as a thin trickle of blood dripped down her wrist into the hot water. "You're pathetic, you know that? I see you want to prolong this. Oh, well, I guess this is good-bye to Potter."

"No, no" she cried weakly. "Here, I'll do it. Please, just don't hurt anybody." As she cut into her wrist once more, this time more deeply, she saw James out of the corner of her eye once more. He was struggling with more vehemence than she knew possible, trying to get her to stop, silent tears streaming down his face, his eyes begging her to understand.

"I can live with many things, James, but not with the deaths of friends on my conscience," she said through her tears. "If there's a chance I can save them, then I will." Blood was now pouring from her wrist. At this repulsive sight, James felt bile rise in his throat and was unable to prevent himself from vomiting.

Morano chuckled maniacally. "I knew your Gryffindor pride and courage would get to you. Now I will have the Potter family in the palm of my hands. Their son will be insane from watching the love of his life die slowly and painfully, and they will have no choice but to convince the Aurors to call off the search for me." He laughed demonically.

Lily felt her skin start to clam up. Her head felt light. Her feet and hands had lost feeling. She broke into a cold sweat. Brightly coloured spots floated in front of her eyes. She began to see images from her life flash before her eyes. Picnics in the park with her family as a child. Squealing with delight at the new puppy she got for Christmas when she was ten. Getting into Hogwarts and seeing it for the first time. Her mother dying in the hospital following a car wreck. Making friends with Alice and Serena. Fighting with James. Hearing Count Morano say, "Everyone knows how much you hate Potter . . ."

As she felt consciousness leave her, she struggled to say a few last words to the boy standing nearby, tears streaming down both of their faces, "James, I never hated you," she whispered. Then her eyes closed, and she began to slide down into the water.


	3. Recovery

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

A/N: Thanks to all of my reviewers, especially Spuffy Freak and nymphadora1982 for your complimentary/excited reviews. I hope that this chapter answers all questions for everyone. If not, I will try to edit it or just reply to questions. Please leave me a review letting me know if y'all liked my story and why/why not. I really appreciate all input. I am not a phlebotomist or any sort of medical expert, so please "suspend your disbelief" for all medical sections of this last chapter.

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"O! whatever are my own sufferings, may my heart never, never be against those of others." – The Mysteries of Udolpho

* * *

At that moment, the door burst open.

"STUPEFY!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

"ADNECTO!"

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew came running through the door like madmen. As Count Morano fell unconscious to the floor, wands flying out of his hands, and ropes coiling around him, the three Marauders quickly assessed the situation. Sirius and Remus ran to the bathtub, grabbing Lily's arms before her face could go under the water. Peter approached James, chanting, "Finite Incantatum," successfully removing the bindings constraining him, as well as the allowing the boy to speak.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Lily."

Sirius, being the stronger of the two that had gone to help Lily, was holding her above water, while Remus had removed his t-shirt and was tearing a strip of cloth from it. He tied the strip to her wrist, stemming the bleeding a little, and said, urgently, "We have to get her to the hospital wing."

Peter grabbed one of the scarlet towels from the cupboard beside the bathtub and held it out while Sirius and Remus lifted Lily's still form out of the bathtub, and the three of them succeeded in wrapping her in the towel.

Within forty-five seconds of entering the room, the boys were carrying Lily to the Hospital Wing.

Without a single question, Madame Pomfrey began to give orders. "Put her on that bed over there," she barked, pointing to one of the neatly made hospital beds. "Remus, look up her blood type. Pettigrew, get me some bandages from that cabinet over there."

The hospital matron had a catalogue of blood type for every student in the school. Once they reached the age of 17, they were asked to donate blood whenever it was needed, but they did not keep any on hand because most injuries at Hogwarts did not result in mass blood loss. Since he was in the Hospital Wing more often than any other student, Remus had become Madame Pomfrey's unofficial helper whenever he was conscious during his stays.

"She's B-," Remus called out.

Sirius, who was also B-, and Peter, who was O-, immediately began rolling up the sleeves of their robes, which they were still wearing. Peter handed the bandages to Madame Pomfrey as she began to shout instruction to Remus on how to set up the IV's to go from the boys to Lily.

"I think she's lost at least three pints. This is serious," Madame Pomfrey stated. "We need more, quickly."

James looked on, helplessly, cursing his A+ blood. Remus, too, looked on, guiltily, because although he had O- blood, he could not give any to her because of his condition.

"You can take more than a pint from me," Sirius supplied, and Peter quickly nodded his agreement.

"Don't be ridiculous, boys." Madame Pomfrey admonished, but before either of them could protest, a voice spoke up from the doorway. A voice that surprised the group not only because nobody else would be about at this time at night, but also because of whom the voice belonged to.

"I have O- blood," Severus Snape said quietly from the doorframe.

Sirius glared vehemently and opened his mouth to tell Snape that Lily didn't need _his_ blood, but James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder to quiet him and said, gratefully, tears still shining in his eyes, "Thank you."

"Actually, if you could give her some plasma, that would be better." Snape winced at Madame Pomfrey's suggestion, but nodded anyways. Plasma donation was not an easy task in the wizarding world, as it brought great pain, and, oftentimes, bruising.

Blood was already dripping from Peter's arm directly into Lily's through a tube, and Sirius' blood was being collected in a bag. It was not safe to add too much blood to a body's system too quickly. Madame Pomfrey now set about preparing Snape's arm and the plasma machine.

Once she had started the machine, Madame Pomfrey went into her office for a moment, and Snape sneered at the group, "This does not leave this room."

"We will keep your secret if you will keep the rest of this situation to yourself. We do not want the school to know about this," James said, and all five boys nodded in agreement. "I just have one question, though," James continued, "Why are you here, and why are you doing this?"

"One hears many things in the Slytherin common room, Potter, most of which no one would want to know. I went to the Head dormitory, saw the trail of blood, and came here. As to why I am doing this, I have my reasons, and I am not going to share them with you." As James nodded, Snape thought back to last January. . . .

_"You know, Snape, with this knife, I could sneak into your dormitory and into your school trunk. I know you have stuff of questionable nature in there, and I will turn you in for it."_

_Snape tried not to pale at Potter's threat, but he knew he would be true to his word. Unfortunately for Snape, Potter was expecting to find stolen potions or something to that effect, but what he would actually find if he succeeded could prevail in shortening Snape's life considerably. Over the winter holidays, Snape had joined the Death Eaters. If Potter found his mask and other relics, Snape would be in Azkaban or dead before he could say "Expelliarmus." When Lily came by and yelled at Potter, she had saved his life, and if there was anything Snape hated than this particular Mudblood, it was being indebted to her.

* * *

_

That evening, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat around Lily's bed, laughing and forcing her to eat more food than she could handle. Since she had woken late that afternoon, the four had succeeded in distracting her from thinking of the events of the early morning, but, inevitably, she asked about it. "What happened once I passed out?" she asked quietly. "How did you guys get there?" "Who was that man?"

The boys looked at each other and nodded, consenting to tell her everything they knew. "That was Count Dioscuri Morano." Lily gasped at the name, for she knew the stories of what he had supposedly done: many deaths had occurred in which there was no evidence of either how or why they had happened, but many of the victims were connected to Count Morano. Authorities had begun to believe he was in some way responsible, and Lily knew James' father was the Auror in charge of capturing the man.

James continued, "He has had problems with my family for years. He's wanted to punish us for forcing him to run and hide, and he finally found a way to do so. He is now in Azkaban, awaiting trial, thanks to these guys." James began.

Sirius continued with the story, "The three of us," he indicated himself, Remus, and Peter, "knew that James was going to try to talk to you last night," Lily blushed at the fact that these boys probably knew everything about every conversation she had had with James, but nodded for Sirius to continue. He sighed. "Anyways, we have this map that shows the school and everybody in it, and we were wondering how the conversation went, and figured if he were walking about the school aimlessly that it didn't go well, but if he were in his dorm it may have gone well. But when we looked at the map, we saw Count Morano's name and the three of you in the bathroom, so we ran there as fast as we could."

"We got there just in time to see you go underwater," Remus continued. "Sirius stunned him, I disarmed him, and Peter bound him. Sirius and I took care of you, while Peter rescued James, and then we all brought you here." Lily blushed at how she was "dressed" when they came in. Correctly interpreting her blush, Remus added, "We didn't see anything."

Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered, "Thanks, guys. I don't know what I would do without you." She knew it sounded cheesy, but she also knew it was completely true. Her tears then turned to those of anger. "I just can't believe that he was able to manipulate me like that. I knew that there were things scarier than death, but it all just seemed so, so . . . surreal or something. I – I never knew that anyone could be so cruel or make me feel so terrible without once touching me. It would have been better if – if he had j – just killed me right out!" she cried out through her sobs.

The boys looked at each other helplessly; none of them ever knew what to do around crying girls, especially when it was a serious situation such as this, not merely a broken nail. It was Peter who finally spoke up, "Lily, we don't know what to say or do, but if you need to talk to somebody, we can listen."

Lily's sobs slowly subsided, and she looked up at them with red eyes, saying, "Thank you, again. I really appreciate everything." She paused. "There's one more thing I want to know." The boys nodded, encouraging her to continue. "How much blood did I lose?"

"Madame Pomfrey said you had probably lost about three pints." James said. "Sirius and Peter both gave you two pints, and – um – another person came and gave you some plasma."

She gasped and winced and the pain the person had surely endured. "Who was it? I want to thank them."

James shook his head. "We can't tell you. If we tell anyone, this person tells what he saw."

Lily nodded. "Did you know that researchers at St. Mungo's are trying to come up with a potion that replenishes blood?"

"Count on Lily to know something like that, Miss Potions Expert," Sirius quipped, to which Lily had the decency to blush.

Unknowingly, James had told Lily that it was a boy, but she did not let on. The boys stayed with her until visiting hours were over and Madame Pomfrey shooed them out of the Hospital Wing. The matron handed some Dreamless Sleep Potion to James as he left, knowing his scars would be just as difficult to heal as Lily's.

* * *

Halloween had been on a Wednesday. Lily missed classes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, returned to her room on Saturday, where she found the bathroom scrubbed clean, and resumed classes on Monday. 

Most students were glad to see her and asked if she was feeling better. The story the Marauders had told the school was that she had been sick with the flu. She smiled sweetly to all of her well-wishers, glad to be back to a little bit of normalcy.

One person was not all that glad to see her back, of course. Her Potions partner, Severus Snape, sarcastically welcomed her back to class. He had always seemed to have a personal vendetta against the Muggleborn witch who happened to be his equal, if not his better, at Potions. On top of that, Slughorn, the Potions professor, seemed to favor her over himself, who was always respectful to his professors, unlike the smart aleck Evans.

Snape scoffed at his partner, who was struggling to reach an ingredient on the top shelf. She was reaching with her right hand, keeping her left at her side, preventing anyone from seeing her wrist. He came up behind her and grudgingly handed her the frog eyes she was trying to reach, and as he did so, his sleeve slipped, revealing the fading greenish-yellow bruise that was on the crook of his right elbow. A slight gasp escaped her lips as her eyes took in the sight and put the pieces of the puzzle together. Who else is there at Hogwarts who would not want her to know he had helped save her life?

He glared at her, asking, "Is there something else you wanted?" he snarled, daring her to say something.

She shook her head, "No, nothing else." She paused, then added, tears shimmering in her eyes, "Thank you." Snape nodded, and they both knew she was thanking him for more than just the frog eyes.

* * *

Weeks passed and Lily became closer to James and the rest of the Marauders. Although she and James both had frequent nightmares about that Halloween, they endured day after day. They both resolved not to allow their distresses to effect the way they treated others and both strained to be kind to everyone, even their "enemies." Though the mark on her wrist faded slowly, Lily knew it would never disappear completely. Like the one on her wrist, her heart would always carry a slight scar. 


End file.
